When you are developing a powerful brand strategy or excellent customer engagement through your online content you need to understand one thing: people like to access content in different ways. You may have one person who loves to listen to a podcast on the way to work. Another that likes quick articles they can read on their phone. Yet another likes in-depth reports they will focus on at the weekend. By meeting as many of these different access needs as possible, you maximise the chance that your content will be successful. One way to maximise the success of video, audio or podcasts is to include a written transcript.
Importance of Written Transcripts for Your Audience
When you put a video or an audio recording on your website it’s great for those people who like to listen, and watch. But others will really appreciate being able to read what you say, including the hearing impaired, people who don’t have audio on their PC, or who need to keep silent when on the computer (they’re probably at work, for example.) If you don’t include a transcript, you miss reaching this audience.
When you create a transcript of a speech, a podcast, or a video you can create an easy-to-read document that also has many access points and clickable links. You give people the convenience of being able to link to different areas of your website, or external sites, which is not possible with a podcast. You can give people extra information in the links that they would miss if they were simply watching the content. Plus, reading content reinforces ideas and concepts. Your content has a greater impact when it is written down.
Importance of Transcripts for You
A transcribed podcast or video from a professional transcription services company makes you look more professional. It shows you take your content seriously and that it is worth writing down – people do still assign more value to the written word than the spoken word. Professional transcription services companies will make sure that the transcription is entirely accurate. Because, of course, no one will take you particularly seriously if you put a transcription on your website that has been automatically generated by a computer tool or free app. You need to put the effort and care into producing a transcription, and thankfully by outsourcing this task you don’t need to spend the time on it.
When you transcribe audio or video you also harness the power of the written word for SEO purposes. Your content is more searchable. You attract people who are looking for certain terms or phrases mentioned in your video. If it’s not written down, the search engines can’t find it. Plus, your content is more searchable for humans. People can scan through text or use the search function on their computer to find the section they are interested in.
Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.
